Bird Watching in Aurora [0001]: Double-Crested Cormorant

I am sure that by now everyone must have seen double-crested cormorants on the landmark tree at the McKenzie Marsh, St. John's Sideroad in Aurora. I remember when first time I saw them - I was so excited. I photograph them, I read about them. Sometimes, I felt like I was an expert in cormorants - especially when people would stop me and ask me if I knew what they were. It was about three years ago when I first time saw them. I don't know if they were there before that time.

Surprisingly, first one I saw was in the water fishing. It was cool to watch them because they would dive under the water and next thing they would come out in different location. Then I observed them residing on the tree which is close to the boardwalk. Sometimes when days were gloomy and that tree had many cormorants on every branch - the place looks spooky, really spooky. I remember those days when the great blue heron and night herons would sit on that tree too, however, have not seen them since the cormorant invasion.

Another interesting thing about cormorants is that they don't have oil glands in their wings, thus sometimes you will see them sitting with wings open to dry on the sun. But the most fascinating thing about them are their feet. The anatomy of their web like feet is very similar to the duck or goose, yet than can easily wrap them around the tree branch and sit still, and sometimes on one foot only.

So next time when you are passing by the McKenzie Marsh you will know what they are. The biggest population of them always been at the McKenzie Marsh. You can enjoy a beautiful view from the boardwalk. Unfortunately they do not stay here over the winter, but I am sure that they will be here for another few weeks if you still want to see them.

I will be showcasing more photos of the double-crested cormorants from Aurora in my future posts. However, if you want to learn more about cormorants, wikipedia is the place. I think by now you should know that I am actually fan of Wikipedia.

Thieves Know What They Want - Especially in Aurora

I think I must have passed by this bike four days in the row and yet the bike was still there untouched, meaning not stolen. The bike wasn't even tied to the tree, just leaning against the tree. Perfect bike. And why no one in the world is taking it? Not good enough for thieves I guess. Is this mean that Aurora is a perfect place to live? I guess it is. But then, may be not. Thieves want more, they want cars, or they want what's in the cars. I guess it is more challenging to break into the car at night, than just pick up some laying bike under the tree, or pick up a bike which will do nothing. So what they are looking for? I guess stuff in the glove compartments, like GPS, digital cameras, cell phones, or any other cool stuff people hide. Cool stuff I will leave to your imagination. More interesting is that some don't even lock their car doors.

Recently I found out that there were two thieves breaking into cars on our street in the early morning. They were going from car to car checking if the cars were opened, and I guess they would take stuff. Some older cars didn't have any security so the thieves were probably breaking into them. This all happened around 3 or 4 in the morning. Luckily someone spotted them and called Aurora police. Happy ending - thieves were captured within 2 hours. This means no more theft on our street? However, I think it will happen again. Yes it will. It happened before in the past few years, and yet they were back again.

I just wish that stuff like that was more publicized and people were informed about crime in our local communities. I know it isn't really good for the Aurora. You may ask why I wish such thing. Well, so next time I will think twice before going in the middle of night alone and photograph the lunar eclipse. Police is doing great job cleaning up the crime, but if the communities were more aware, we probably could help more, or if not, then we would be a bit more cautious - keeping our cars locked, not leaving our cars running in the cold, and not wondering in the middle of night like me. Speaking of idle cars - too bad there is no by-law in Aurora for that, or I have not looked closely.

This is all small stuff. Breaking into a car may not be the same deal as having car stolen. I did Google search on the auto theft, and was amazed seeing the auto theft numbers. This article is from Ontario Provincial Police web site and for you to think about. Don't forget to read auto theft tips too.

'The stolen car industry is a 600 Million dollar a year illicit industry in Canada. In Ontario over 52,000 cars are stolen a year. Sixty percent are recovered in what are called transportation crimes (used and dumped). The remainder is the result of organized enterprise auto theft.' Read more ...

REFERENCES
Provincial Auto Theft Team, Did You Know?, Ontario Provincial Police Website

Crane Fly, A Giant Mosquito Look Alike

Every fall the giant mosquito look alike hovers around our house - outside of course, and sometimes inside. I am sure that every house in Aurora gets them too. But, I don't recall seeing them when I moved into Aurora about 11 years ago. Anyway, I been calling it a giant mosquito; however, they are not even from the mosquito family - they are from a fly family and are called crane flies. But it looks like mosquito. How they qualify them, I don't know, I am not an expert, but? Well not buts, someone knew what they were doing. Few years ago I was listening to the radio, and the crane fly came up in the conversation. The lady announcer also didn't know anything about them, just kept saying how giant they were, and she gave them a name - a 'hamburger mosquito'. A hamburger mosquito? - I thought it was very funny then, but for the longest time me and my husband would call them that too, a hamburger mosquito. Do not ask why? It seemed normal once we adapted the name.



Now, me and you know that this is a crane fly. You can look up outside of this post and read more on the wikipedia or other source about them. However, there are few interesting facts that I will mention. Interestingly, there are at least 14,000 different species of crane flies. Yes, that many, and I have only seen one - at least then 13,999 to go. They are giant as you already seen them. They don't bite - that's what I like, everything harmless is good around here. They are slow-flying insects, that I know, my 16 month old son can catch them, don't ask what happens after. They are attracted to light - don't like that, but how about all other bugs, no mystery here. They feed on nectar or not at all. Yes they only live to mate and then die, and only about 2 days. Very focused life there. But they don't know that after they die, they help to break down dead leaves and stems in the streams to keep the water healthy for the fish, and other wildlife. This concludes that obviously they like to live around water. Crane flies belong to the family Tipulidae of the order Diptera - meaningless to me, just classification.

Aurora Outdoor Playgrounds - Fun Places for Children

For the longest time I thought that once the playground is built then no body looks after it. Not true. The other day I took my boy to the playground on the swing. I happened to notice a new set of chains on both swings. Did old one break? Or this is just a standard procedure to replace them after some time? Did someone from parks saw me swinging? I think it was a just a standard procedure after all.

Today when I was walking from the marsh, I saw an inspector inspecting our local playground. Kick there and there, look here and there, shake, wrestle with the post - all done. Kidding aside, he was very detailed, looked into each corner, touched all the joints. I am glad that we have such a good system to look after public places. After all we are paying taxes, and it is good to know that my tax money is actually being used properly.

Hurray to public works, however, don't take my word completely because I am only speaking of one playground. Now message to those who leave cigarette butts behind, or let dogs loose on the playground - don't do it.

According to Town of Aurora there are 33 outdoor playgrounds in Aurora that are open all four seasons. These playgrounds provide all kinds of cool stuff for children of all ages. According to the town they are being upgraded. All the equipment is C.S.A. compliant. I guess I have witnessed a detail inspection of the playground equipment which is conducted on a monthly basis. For your information, C.S.A. is a Canadian Standards Association, a not-for-profit membership-based association. C.S.A. work with industry and governments to develop standards that address public health and safety.

On the closing note, have you ever pay attention to the name of your nearest playground?

REFERENCES
Community Parks and Sports Facilities, Playgrounds, Aurora Website
Canadian Standards Association

Determined Young Snapping Turtle

I take my regular walks to the McKenzie boardwalk along the St. John's sideroad almost everyday. Sometimes it seems like the marsh is empty, and no creature will try to pose in front of my camera. But I know if I always look closely, marsh is full of surprises. This time it was a walking surprise, in fact walking away from the marsh. So graceful, so confident and aiming for the road. I blocked him with the stroller hoping that it will turn around. No, not at all. I call this determination.

The young snapping turtle was going somewhere, and I was not letting him. I will not let him simply get run over by the cars - seeing dead bird was enough of a disappointment today. At that point I didn't know it was a snapping turtle, but as cautious I am about handling wild animals, I simply placed him in the plastic bag and moved him into a safer place near water. I just hope I did the right thing.

I am always amazed how much wild life there is in the marsh and around, despite that it is so close to the busy road and there is so much of the road noise. One would thing that all the noise would scare them away. It also makes me think, how many turtles I ran over with my car. Ouch, don't want to think about it, but its possible.

Just in case you run into a snapping turtle trying to cross the road, here are some handling tips I got from Wikipedia.

'Lifting the turtle with the hands is difficult and hazardous. Snappers may stretch their necks halfway back across their own carapace to bite. Also, their claws are sharp and capable of inflicting injuries. Manual lifting (which should be done only if no other options are available) is best accomplished by grabbing the top of the shell behind the head with one hand and the other hand holding the shell between the rear legs. Then you can proceed to lift the turtle with the head facing away from you and all others. This way the turtle will not be able squirm and try to dislodge the handler's hands with its hind legs. Even a small snapper is relatively powerful for its size, with long sharp claws; further, due to their aquatic habits, these turtles are often slimy and wet, and are good at causing prospective handlers to lose their grip. In the case that a snapping turtle must be handled, it is best to keep the turtle on the ground or very close.', Source: Common Snapping Turtle, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

About the Blogger Living in Aurora

We moved into our new home in Aurora back in 1997. It was actually a Halloween night when I brought most of my belongings. I am originally from Mississauga, so moving into a small town was a big change to me. I knew that the life will be different and better - I was not wrong.

Mississauga is a relatively big city. After graduating from high school I started my studies at the University of Toronto, and therefore most of my time I spent in Toronto – even bigger city. Back in 1996 when my husband found our new home in the town of Aurora, I never once objected and looked back. I have not fully explored Aurora then, but I had this good gut feeling that the life here will be beautiful.

Back in 1997 when we moved in to our new home in a newly built subdivision, the land around us was not yet developed. It was very quiet. Working long hours and not having much time to explore the area around us, at no time the houses started to rise from the ground. Yes the subdivisions were being built every where. The housing sales were booming.

I still cannot believe that a decade passed, we are still living in Aurora, and in our original house. We have a new family addition – a beautiful son, who for over a year now been nothing but a joy in our lives. We are very fortunate to be able to raise our child together and dedicate most of our time watching him grow and be happy. I guess you can tell that right now I am stay-at-home mom. My new profession is parenthood, and I love it.

In the past I worked for both, a large corporation and a small business. Having that experience, I have decided to be self-employed. This gave me an opportunity to travel, and explore some beautiful places like Singapore, Japan, Germany and Italy, not to mention that I was born in Europe. Then seeing all that, we started to travel more around Canada visiting places like Canadian Rockies and Nova Scotia.

There is a saying, ‘grass looks always greener on the other side’. Having said that, I thought what was wrong with exploring areas around where we live, the town of Aurora and its surroundings. No, there is nothing wrong. We sometimes take for granted how much interesting history and beautiful nature is all around us - I did too. Waking up one day, we took car to our local park Sheppard’s Bush Conservation Area and could not believe what we were missing over many years.

Since then, for few years now, I and my husband been hiking and biking around Aurora and surroundings. In addition, I got involved in bird watching and photography. Today, here I am blogging about Living in Aurora, and hope that you also will join me and share your experiences with me.

'You have to be self-reliant and strong to survive in this town. Otherwise you will be destroyed.' ~ by Joan Crawford